NEWS: Kenneth HOUSUM Killed by Trolley Car, 1918, Altoona, Blair County, PA

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BOY CRUSHED TO DEATH BY TROLLEY CAR

Kenneth Housum, aged 2 1/2, 1916 Sixth Avenue, Walks on Rail Near Home

HIS MOTHER WITNESSES ACCIDENT

  Leaving his mother's side and darting across the track in front of an in-
bound Eldorado trolley car, Kenneth Housum, aged 2 1/2 years, son of Norman 
Housum, 1916 Sixth avenue, was struck and crushed to death at 7:40 o'clock 
last evening, at Sixth avenue and Nineteenth street.
  A skull fracture, broken right arm, crushed left hip and internal injuries 
caused the lad to expire almost immediately after being run down.  He was 
dragged twenty feet and when picked up was hurried to the office of Dr. 
Proctor T. Miller, 1900 Seventh avenue, where he was declared dead.
  Motorman H. Klahre and Conductor R. H. Lykens were in charge of the car, 
No. 154.  The accident is the first to claim the life of a child on the Logan 
Valley railway lines for more than two years, officials state.  Mrs. Housum, 
who was returning from an errand to a grocery store, witnessed the mishap.

Motorman Didn't See Tot.

  In his statement last night, the motorman declared he started the car at 
Nineteenth street, where four passengers were discharged, after receiving the 
signal from the conductor and the car had attained a speed of three miles an 
hour when he heard shouts and halted it.
  Looking toward the next street intersection, and busy with his duties, 
Klahre did not notice any children on the track.  The Housum boy was so short 
of stature that the motorman was unable to see him as he dashed immediately 
in front of the fender.
  Charles F. Riley, of 1819 Sixth avenue, a passenger, seated at the window 
on the side where the tot approached the track, said the child ran into the 
car and was pushed to the rail where the wheel caught and passed partly over 
the head.  Other witnesses stated the carman was not at fault.
  Klahre was considerably affected by the fatality, and admitted he didn't 
know what had occurred until he descended from his stool to the street, and 
found the body being extricated from the car.

Head is Mutilated.

  As soon as the car stopped, men ran to the child's side and lifted him.  
Hardly a trace of pulse was detected and a hasty trip to the physician's 
office was made, but in vain.
  One side of the scalp and skull was laid open by the wheel and the brain 
was exposed.  The fracture in itself was sufficient to result fatally for the 
boy.  The body was later taken to the parents' home and afterward to the 
Stevens mortuary.
  Deputy Coroner C. C. Rothrock was summoned and started an investigation.  
He had not determined last night if an inquest would be held or not.  The 
Logan Valley company also began its usual probe.  The car equipment was 
intact and all safety devices were in order.
  Kenneth Norman Housum was born in this city and was the son of Norman and 
Sadie Yetter Housum, who survive with his sister, Dorothy, and an infant 
brother, William.  Funeral services will be announced later.

Altoona Tribune, Saturday morning, August 24, 1918, pages 1, 10